David Draiman: Why was Disturbed frontman 'booed' at Black Sabbath’s farewell concert, did he sign bombs?
Disturbed frontman David Draiman has defended himself after being booed by sections of the crowd during his appearance at Black Sabbath’s farewell concert in Birmingham.
Draiman was part of an all-star lineup at the Back to the Beginning tribute at Villa Park on Saturday, where he performed Sweet Leaf and Shot in the Dark while wearing a Star of David necklace. But as he walked onto the stage, a number of audience members booed.
Draiman’s bomb-signing post, shared on Instagram on 17 June, showed him autographing Israeli artillery shells with an explicit message directed at Hamas. The post was widely condemned on social media, though none of Disturbed’s tour dates have been cancelled as a result.
In response, Draiman took to X to reject claims he was “booed off stage,” blaming what he called "Jew-hating morons" and accusing the media of deliberately distorting events. “As you can see, I wasn’t ‘booed off stage’ as so many people in the press and CERTAINLY #FreePalestine crowd, would have you believe,” he wrote.
“Yes, there were a few boos when I walked out, but I came to pay homage to my teachers, my idols, the mighty Black Sabbath, and I wasn’t about to let a few Jew hating morons deter that. It’s all about feeding their narrative, generating clickbait, and inciting hatred of Jews.”
“There’s even a track being passed around out there that added enhanced booing to the performance just to add fuel to the fire. Pathetic. The live stream shows the truth. Both songs went over great.”
Critics accused the singer of hypocrisy and spreading misinformation about the extent of the crowd’s reaction. One user wrote on X: “You’re saying the crowd didn’t boo, yet you addressed the booing while on stage 🤔🤔”
Another user criticised Draiman for his bomb-signing stunt: “You’re a scumbag. Signing bombs that killed children. You’re an embarrassment to you and your family.” Others accused Draiman of manipulating video footage of the event to downplay the criticism he received:
“Just watched the ‘stream’ — they’ve quite literally muted the booing and cut half of it off including the moment where you paused because you didn’t expect it. Why lie? There’s videos everywhere and witnesses, me being one 😭😂.”
He further criticised press coverage, calling it a “dumpster fire of a bulls*** story,” and declared he would continue his European tour despite the backlash.
“Still coming back to the UK in the fall to what’s shaping up to be a VERY successful run, if ticket sales are any indication. And I am STILL UNAPOLOGETICALLY A FIERCELY PRO-ISRAEL JEW. I will ALWAYS stand up for my people, and I won’t be deterred, intimidated, or shamed out of rocking the asses of the masses. Put that in your pipes and smoke it.”
One critic summed up the anger online: “He signed bombs that murdered people because he’s against an organisation that murdered people? Which ones are terrorists? Which ones are right and which ones are wrong?”
Despite the controversy, Disturbed are still scheduled to perform in Dublin, Glasgow, London, Manchester, Berlin, Paris, and several other cities across Europe later this year.